AustLit

'In late 2014 I co-organised a workshop at Macquarie University on ‘The Self and History’ with my former colleague Kate Fullagar. This was linked to another workshop I co-organised as Director of the Centre for Applied History with Australian Dictionary of Biography (hereafter ADB) colleagues on family history. We planned a masterclass with higher degree research students and early career researchers as part of the proceedings and asked participants to prepare an ADB entry about themselves in advance to share with others at the workshop. We hoped this task would encourage people to think carefully about how we construct life-stories, what sources are available to us when we do this work, as well as the limits and possibilities of what authors can and might reveal about their lives, given the opportunity to do so. It was one of the most enjoyable projects I have shared with friends, colleagues, peers, and students. We all learned much about the construction of historical knowledge as well as ourselves and each other in the process. I have reflected many times on the activity since, when writing up life-stories in different formats and for varied audiences. I also draw upon the task when I talk to my students about historical significance. Scholars agree that examining the construction of life-stories can provide us with unprecedented insight into how history is undertaken, imagined, and discussed by ‘ordinary people’.' (Introduction)